Ikan PIVOT 3-Axis Gimbal with 8lbs Payload – Hands On

by Olaf von VossApril 19^th, 2018

We’ve already covered the frshly announced Ikan PIVOT 3-axis gimbal in this article. Now, at NAB 2018 in Las Vegas we had the chance to take a closer look at it. Natalie Cheng from Ikan walked us through this little, yet powerful, gimbal.

This little guy can hold (and operate) cameras with a weight of up to 8lbs (3,63kg)! Since that’s gonna be quite tough to hold, you can get order a additional dual handgrip as an accessory.

Ikan PIVOT 3-Axis Gimbal

The market for handheld 3-axis gimbal systems gets quite crowded these days. Manufacturers need to have some nice trick up their sleeves in order to attrackt potential customers. In Ikan’s case it is the high maximum payload of the Ikan PIVOT gimbal. It can hold up to 8lbs. As you can see in the vdeo above they’ve managed to operate a Canon C200 with it. Since this camera weights 3.2lbs (1,5 kg) you should be able to add a lens, a baseplate, some 15mm rods and even a wireless focus of some kind. Very neat!

The gimbal itself comes as a classic gimbal-on-a-stick with an angled roll axis in order to preserve a plain view on the back of the camera. Since this gimbal is meant to be used with small mirrorless cameras as well as DSLRs and even bigger cameras, such as the Canon C200, this concept might get pretty fatiguing pretty quickly. In order to distribute the weight a little more evenly, you can get the optional DGH dual grip handle from Ikan.

Ikan PIVOT gimgal with attached dual grip handle.

This grip handle comes with two little feet which provide a safe stand for your whole gimbal setup. For controlling the device you can download an app from the app store or the Google play store. With this app you can adjust all settings, e.g. the motor controls, comfortably from your smartphone.

Pricing and Availability

The Ikan PIVOT is available now and it costs around $750. Natalie reports that they just ran out of inventory but more PIVOTs are heading their way already so these should be available really soon.

This gimbal seems to be a very interesting device for indie filmmakers. A compact but very powerful handheld gimbal that even holds a camera in the league of a C200 or similarly sized camera? Pretty cool!

Links: Ikancorp.com

Do you think this could be a good addition to your gear bag? Share your thoughts in the comments below!